May 15, 2005: Blessed by the Holy Spirit

+FEAST OF PENTECOST


Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost. It is the last day of the Easter Season, and it commemorates the birthday of the Church on earth—the day when the Holy Spirit came down upon humankind. This event is so marvelous and important that we celebrate it with a vigil mass on Saturday evening and a proper feast-day mass on Sunday. Like me, I know that many of you come to both liturgies… and I hope you find the contrasting readings a special treat.

At the vigil, the Church proclaims the story of the tower of Babel from the Book of Genesis. The Hebrew word Babel comes from a verb stem which means to confuse or confound… which is why the Lord says in this passage: Let us then go down there and confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says. Why did God do this? Because, almost like Jack and the Beanstalk, the people were trying to build a tower up to heaven so they could be gods. The idea was, that by making it hard for the people to communicate and scheme with each other, God could draw their hearts back to him.

The Sunday reading from Acts describes the Holy Spirit coming down upon the apostles in the upper room on Pentecost. We hear how people who all spoke different languages now understood the apostles, who spoke only Aramaic. Do you get it? The Holy Spirit reversed the confusion of Babel. Rather than splitting people apart, he drew them back together. Indeed, the whole idea of a Church is a community brought together with God. The Holy Spirit celebrates our family bond as a human race.

St. Paul emphasizes how important it is for God’s purposes that we truly come together. He describes in his Letter to the Corinthians how we are many parts of the same body. We have different gifts and talents, different strengths and longings, different attitudes and viewpoints… but we’re all made from the same basic building blocks: human flesh and God-given spirit.

And why did God make us this way? Baltimore Catechism, Lesson #1: God made us to show forth his goodness and to share with us his everlasting happiness in heaven.

In other words, we might say that the Holy Spirit was given to us so that we can experience God’s beatitude, or blessing… and be a blessing to each other. We must take God’s Spirit within us, amplify it, and spread it generously all over. Remember Jesus’ lesson that we mustn’t hide our light under a bushel basket. Also remember that just the way the loaves and fishes were multiplied, so can the Spirit be amplified.

A good way to start being a blessing is by stirring up your heart to experience the joy and love of God within you. You have to be excited about your faith based on experiencing God’s goodness and blessings in your own life. You know: count your blessings. Have you done this lately? It’s a good exercise to do often, even daily.

I read a beautiful quotation in The Catholic Digest this week. It comes from Antoine de St-Exupéry, the author of The Little Prince. He wrote, “If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood, and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

Likewise, to attract people to the love of God, don’t beat them over the head with your self-righteousness, your acute ability to point out sins (other people’s, of course) or your knowledge of “facts” about God and the Church. Rather, first show them love… and kindness… and patience… and forgiveness… and all those other Christ-like virtues. Let them know that this is what Christianity is all about. This is the kingdom of God open to all people. Even hard-hearted people might secretly admit that that sounds pretty good—and they wish they could have it in their own lives, too!

Another powerful way to draw people in and be a blessing to them is to give a blessing to people! The priest stands up here at every mass and blesses everyone in the name of our one God in three Persons. But blessings are by no means restricted to priests.

Do you remember the story of Jacob and Esau? Esau was the older brother and was in line for his father’s blessing—but younger Jacob cheated him out of it. God’s blessing is so precious that people steal, lie and cheat to get it—and once spoken, it cannot be revoked, according to ancient understanding.

Blessings consist of high-value words that show respect, awe, reverence… and help people feel they are valuable. They give a loved one a sense of security and confidence to serve God and others in the future.

The simplest formula is to say “God bless you!” or “Blessed are you!” If you like, you can raise your right hand… or extend both hands and arms… or give a kiss or embrace. Bless your children and grandchildren, your spouse, your friends and neighbors… even strangers.

Pentecost is not an end of a season. It is a beginning. It is a time to recognize the Spirit within… to be grateful for it… and to go forth into the world with a sense of power, love and joy.

May God bless you today and always… and may you, in turn, be a channel of that blessing.



Today’s Readings:

•Vigil
Genesis 11: 1–9
Psalm 104
Romans 8: 22–27
John 7: 37–39

•Feast Day
Acts of the Apostles 2: 1–11
Psalm 104
1 Corinthians 12: 3–7, 12–13
John 20: 19–23